Grand jury sees water costs rising

The civic panel suggests more rewards for conservation

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Water bills will keep going up despite efforts to contain them, the San Diego County Grand Jury said in a report issued Tuesday.

The analysis follows four years in which water rates have risen by roughly 60 percent across the county as front-line water agencies pay more to wholesalers and invest in new infrastructure to lessen the region’s reliance on imported water.

“The good news is that with this strategy, San Diego’s water supply will be more stable and dependable,” said the report. “The bad news is that water will cost more per unit because of the capital investment required and the use of advanced but more expensive technologies to produce the water. Higher water bills are here to stay.”

The panel said local water agencies are largely at the mercy of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provides more than half of the region’s supplies. Grand jurors warned that efforts by local districts to buffer ratepayers from Metropolitan’s price hikes are unsustainable.

“Retailers do not have enough cash reserves to absorb these cost increases for long,” said Tuesday’s report. “Customers in the county will eventually get the bill for these continuing costs.”

The grand jury was established to investigate local government agencies and each year it releases a series of reports aimed at improving their operations. It said Metropolitan is struggling with its own cost pressures, including substantial increases in expenses in importing Northern California water, falling sales and reductions in the agency’s lowest-cost supplies from the Colorado River.

In June, the San Diego County Water Authority sued Metropolitan for alleged overcharges. That led the grand jury to conclude that officials countywide were aggressively representing local interests. The issue is grinding through the legal process with no resolution in sight.

Jurors also highlighted the fact that San Diego County doesn’t have a proportional vote on Metropolitan’s board. The county has four appointees to the 37-member panel, even though it is the largest customer, purchasing a fourth of the water Metropolitan sells.

The grand jury said county officials should advocate for state legislation creating “fair representation” at Metropolitan.

It also made several recommendations for members of the water authority. They include:

•Evaluate and improve public outreach efforts to educate ratepayers about efforts to diversify and stabilize rates.

•Consider an economic reward for conservation measures taken by ratepayers.

•Increase the investment in water-supply technologies such as desalination and reclamation.